I looked out at the extensive line that held everyone in this city that was both old enough and healthy enough to give their blood.

Whether they were willing or not wasn't really their choice.

If it was then I doubt anyone would be here.

This collection wasn't like the typical blood donation where a doctor gets the blood from your elbow. No, the vampires running the operation got the blood from the person's neck with a larger than usual needle so the process wouldn't take that long. Something about the oxygenated blood that traveled to the brain peeked the vampires liking enough for them to only want to take from that spot.

I let out a quiet sigh, crossing my arms against my body in an effort to feel a bit warmer.

We had gotten here about an hour ago, before the set time that people were supposed to be getting in line. Xander and Nico had both given the vampire in charge of the actual blood collecting the list of names as well as the blood types that went with them.

From there Xander and Nico have just been sitting on these large cushioned benches that sat outside the small building, keeping watch over the people in line and making sure that no one tried anything they would regret.

Luckily, Nico allowed me to sit next to him, whereas Doe was left sitting on the ground, shivering at the cold.

I mean, I was shivering too, but at least I had warmer clothes on than she did.

This time, Nico sighed, resting his elbow on the armrest and leaning away from me.

Nothing had happened concerning the people and I could tell that this was a pretty boring job.

Xander wasn't even trying to hide the fact that he was bored. His eyes were fixed into a narrow glare as his eyes shifted around, making sure that if someone stepped out of line even an inch, he would be the one to catch them and punish them.

I wasn't really bored per say, I was pretty much used to sitting around and doing nothing from my time in the pet shop.

I brought my knees up onto the bench, hugging them against my chest.

Except the pet shop wasn't this cold.

Even though it wasn't snowing right now it was still freezing.

Still, I tried not to think about it, focusing on the people in the city instead.

Their faces were all blank as they stood as still as they could in line.

I think a recognized only a few people, and luckily no one had sent anything more than a glance in my direction.

The vampires sitting next to me intimidated them enough to keep them looking straight ahead.

I hugged my knees closer to my body, resting my head on them.

I knew that this was nowhere near being over so I wanted to make my body heat last as long as it could.

"Khloe."

I turned my head up towards Nico, meeting his sideways glance.

"Stand up." He finished.

I rose a brow, lifting my head a bit more, "W-what?"

Why would he want me to do that?

His brows rose a bit giving me that 'Are you really going to make me say it again?' look.

So, not wanting to make him repeat himself, I uncurled myself and stood from the bench.

After what happened this morning I didn't want to anger him at all.

I just stood there for a moment, facing towards the slowly moving line of people as I heard Nico move behind me.

Not being sure if I should turn, I stayed facing forward

Although I did flinch once I felt him place something on my shoulders, and my surprise only grew once I realized that it was his black dress jacket.

I looked wide-eyed at him, seeing now that he just had on his white long-sleeved shirt.

That alone couldn't keep him anywhere near warm enough.

Yet he was just continuing to wrap his jacket around me.

"Put your arms in the sleeves and button it up." He told me.

Being too confused and partially shocked to do anything else, I followed his orders, fumbling with the buttons until they were all secure.

I let my arms hang down once I was down, letting the ends of the sleeves of his jacket fall past my hands.

Well, I was certainly warmer but...

I turned my head back.

"Th-thank you but, aren't you cold?" I asked.

He looked me over for a second.

"Uh-huh," A short gasp exited my throat when he suddenly lifted me up, placing me calmly on his lap, "That's why you'll be sitting here now."

He crossed his arms near my stomach, pulling me closer to him.

My eyes stayed wide as my shoulders slowly relaxed.

Part of my mind was just trying to decide what to think about what just happened.

My eyes slowly shifted to the left, noticing how more people were glancing at me.

I guess I just instinctually turned my head to the right when Nico did as he looked towards his brother.

I looked at Doe first, my empathy briskly returning, then looked at Xander.

He was now resting his chin on his hand, sending Nico a sideways glare that didn't really seem like it had to do with his boredom.

Nico must have been giving him a disappointed look.

"Do you want to fight me or something?" Xander snapped, causing Doe to tense up.

Nico shrugged lazily.

"No, not really, but don't come crawling to me when your pet gets sick again," he said gesturing to Doe's shivering body.

Xander rolled his eyes as he sat up.

"Keep telling me what to do with my pet, Nico." He said sarcastically.

Nico leaned back, taking me with him, "I'm not telling you what to do with her, all I'm saying is that don't expect me to deal with her if she gets s-"

He stopped himself once Xander quickly shifted his head to the right a bit, his eyes wide like a wild dog that had spotted its next meal.

Nico followed his gaze, as did I, squinting in order to see what they did.

My eyes went as wide as Xanders once I realized what was going on.

A far way down the line stood a nearly middle-aged man, his head looking around like he was trying to find a way out of this.

Someone always tried to run from the line. To somehow get away from having to do this.

It was always the kind of people who would often preach against the vampires in the middle of the day and firmly believe that the vampires shouldn't be in control of us.

No one has been able to successfully run from this because of the guards like Nico and Xander, But the guards weren't allowed to kill them, so people kept attempting it.

I always thought that trying to run was more trouble than its worth. Nothing in the society was going to change so there was no use in trying to run from it.

This was humanities contribution. They had to give a bit of their blood once every two months instead of becoming slaves and pets like the poorer humans had to.

My hands tightened into fists as I found myself getting a bit mad about this.

Don't they know how lucky they are? What they have to do was nothing compared to what slaves and pets had to do, yet they didn't even want to do it.

To me, that's just selfish.

"I call dibs if he runs," Xander said quietly, sitting up straighter.

Nico didn't move, just kept watching the man.

"He'll run."

"How can you tell?

I stopped trying to look at the man and decided just to listen. Noticing small features from the man was difficult because of the distance.

"Well, the fact that he's not even checking to see if we're watching him is an obvious sign. he doesn't want to draw any attention to himself. Not to mention that the people in front and behind him look extra uncomfortable, they must know what he's planning to do."

Xander just 'huh'ed, his eyes never straying from the man.

Part of me wanted him to run.

"Hm... I bet that he starts running in the next 10 seconds so get ready." Nico said.

"Wait really?" Xander asked, quickly scooting to the edge of his seat.

"Mhm," Nico responded, starting a countdown with his fingers.

I could tell that these two had made this sort of thing into a game, probably making this more entertaining for the both of them.

I kept switching my gaze from the man, to Xander, wondering if this guy was really going to be stupid enough to not look and make sure that the guards weren't looking at him.

I don't know which surprised me more, the fact that that guy really was that stupid, or the fact that he began running right when Nico's countdown hit zero.

He full out sprinted in the opposite direction, trying to cover his escape by hiding his view behind the line of people

"Hell Yeah!" Xander exclaimed before becoming a blur.

Nico just watched calmly where his brother had run off to.

I couldn't see either of them. I had even lost track of where Xander had gone.

But a chorus of gasps and a loud scream coming from the man showed exactly where they were, making every single head in line turn.

I just stared in that general area, knowing exactly what was happening. I knew that scream so well, and the memories that I associated with them didn't waste any time showing themselves.

The memories of my family that I have always tried not to think of.

I felt myself lean further against Nico, wrapping his jacket tighter against me as I shifted my gaze towards him.

"How did you know the signs that he was going to run?" I asked.

Nico looked away from the scene and down at me. The look on his face told me that he noticed my sudden discomfort.

"I've... been alive for a long time," he said

I decided to try and keep my mind occupied with this conversation.

"H-how old are you?" I asked, realizing that I actually had never asked him that question.

An amused smirk rose on his face for a short moment.

"Old enough." Is all he said.

Xander reappeared as soon as Nico spoke those words.

His proud grin showed off the blood that was staining his teeth.

"Got him." He proudly stated.

"I noticed," Nico responded, "How was it?"

"O positive isn't really my favorite but..." He shrugged.

I looked over towards the line.

The peoples' faces were like stone as they usually were once they remembered who was in charge and why they held that position.

"Well, go tell the boss to cross him off the list," Nico began, "His blood has officially been collected."